It looks like something we will have to, but the only reason to do it is to meet regulations. We don't see it as a significant business.

All this discussion about zero emissions is nonsense. Nobody talks about the efficiency of how the battery is charged. It varies strongly from region to region, depending on how the energy is produced, nuclear, coal and so on, but even the best is not ahead of the internal combustion engine.

Diesel and CNG are the more obvious answers if CO2 is the focus. Both are more viable answers than hybrid. If they gave us a CO2 target instead of imposing technology then we would go that way.

If we want a realistic solution to emissions then the regulators need to be more honest in how they calculate emissions. Electric cars are not the answer.

The 2014 Maserati Ghibli -- not an EV

By his estimates electric vehicles have a plant-to-road lifecycle output of 86g of CO2/km in Europe, 110g/km in the USA, and 191g/km in China. In other words, he's arguing that EVs are far from zero emissions -- and he's right.

To be fair, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the agency tasked with CAFE regulation, does somewhat take this into effect via its mpg-e (electric vehicle mpg) numbers. That said, the numbers do seem a bit skewed -- EVs are scoring 100 MPGe or more. To put that in context the 1.4L engine Chevy CRUZE from General Motors Comp. (GM) puts off only about 161 g/km, meaning that it may produce less emissions in regions like China where much of the power comes from "dirty" sources.

I totally agree that it's dependent on how your electricity is generated. Ours is hydro and wind (Pacific NW), so for us it's zero CO2. If he doesn't want to sell us electric cars, that's his business - we'll buy from someone else, then. They can't make them fast enough for this market, and there are several small shops that do conversions. Personally, I want one of those electric DeLoreans.

It's true that BPA's power is currently about 80% hydro. The problem is that this ratio cannot be maintained if there is a lot of additional demand. If everyone drives an EV, then the extra demand has to come from somewhere. We have a similar problem here with TVA. Hydro cannot be expanded because every viable hydro location in the Tennessee Valley is already being used. I suspect that is also the case in the Columbia Valley.